all the custom sound system pre-amps are mono because near all sound systems play in mono.... this has been talked about nuff on this forum over the years... if you want to run a stereo pa with a mono pre-amp then its just a matter of using a split lead (mono to stereo) from the pre-amps line out to the pa... your pa can still be operated with its own crossover etc, all your doing is giving it a feed from the pre-amp instead of a conventional mixer... of course if your main thing is running your pa as a sound system then use the pre-amp for what it was made, use its inbuilt crossover and individual outs and connect direct to the amps, do`nt fret about stereo just run everything in mono.

firstly, pre-amps such as jts, lincoln, mostec, links, barracuda, metro, charlie destructor etc are more used by the roots and dub sounds (especially within the uk) rather than your typical reggae / dancehall sounds... listen a sound system using a custom built pre-amp, and listen one using off the shelf pa/dj components, then you`ll understand !... its not about it `sounding reggae`, its about its functions and facilities, the crossover points (and slopes used) and the fact these things are more than usually built by guys with years of sound system experience, jah tubby`s for instance something around 30 years or so running sound... the thing is its an all in one box of tricks that does the job very well, inputs, eq`s and filters, crossover, cutouts etc.. in my experience fairly much all of the people that come to me for pre-amps have very little technical knowledge or experience in running sound, but its fairly easy to set up a pre-amp and get things running... if you have such technical skills and experience with equipment you could of course go for some off the shelf / name brand equipment and set something up that could do a perfectly good job, you`d really have to think about how you wired things etc to get the same operation as with a pre-amp, but it could be possible, still you`d have about half a dozen pieces of gear to do the same thing as a single pre-amp, so its what you know... can you see clearer now !

vital ital wrote:Good speakers and amps (class d is more and more popular, big power for not allot of $$) and good source (live act or 45 rpm vinyl, my pref.).No disrespect, but a reggae sounding preamp?

Music has a "sound", components should just amp that, the louder and without distortion the better.

v.i.

I know what you're saying about purity of the signal being important- i.e the cleaner the better. But, I'm also aware that to most peoples ears, a certain amount of "the right kind" of distortion is generally prefered. You'd be surprised how many untrained ears would feel a totally clean sound was lacking something. Distortion can add warmth and pòwer...and lets faced it the signal has seen enough processing and colouration from other equipment down the line through recording, mixing, pressing and then the speakers are playing in all kinds of different spaces, which taints the sound again.

It's interesting that you state your preferred sources as live act/vinyl.. both sources are likely to carry a lot more distortion than other mediums.
The vinyl will have added harmonic distortion from vibration at the needle, and surface noise. The live act has low level feedback through mics.

It's been fairly well recognised in the audio fraternity now that some colouration in sound reproduction is appealing to the ears of the majority.

Same way most sounds prefer scoops..and most of the crowd to. Scoops carry alot of distortion and have certain design side effects that produce a warm coloured sound, just boomy enough to enhance the feeling of power without sounding wrong.

The truth is, all components do have a sound, it's unavoidable. just depends on the character of the sound you like as to whats desireable.

One other point relating to preamps.. i think one advantage of a custom pre is the ability to balance and maximise the gain through the system. The layout of the various functional blocks inside a pre are set out to maximise control and headroom.
All electronic circuitry can be overloaded and that extra headroom means you can get max signal to your amps in all freq. bands-and your amps themselves are less likely to clip out.

As i mentioned, no disrespect.
The JT pre looks wicked, my 2.5 year old would probably mash up the house with that thing (+ effect box and a record deck!), i understand that it is a product of many years of work and research, King Tubbys had a special pre (or amp) with extra knobs on it for live soundsystem...

i think i'm just going to have a preamp for my soundsystem use. the sound is running in mono, but also its very usual for me to play with a club p.a. (especially here where there isnt soundsystem culture and in the small places i play now - i would break everyones ears if i play with the sound), and they are stereo, so i needed some info before buying a pre.

i'll still use other gear when i do help my friends that play rock and punk and other music

i`ve been dj`ing around the world since mid 90`s, a lot of pa system shows, have used various pre-amps including my big old barracuda, jts 3 and 4 way pre-amps, and my custom mostec mini pre-amp, all of which are mono... i just use a simple mono - stereo adaptor to go from the pre-amp to the club system, connecting either via di box (which the club will have) into the systems main mixer , or simply connecting to a spare channel on a dj mixer that might be used by another dj on the set... its easy and it works with no particular problems.

freedubtribe soundsystem wrote: but also its very usual for me to play with a club p.a. (especially here where there isnt soundsystem culture and in the small places i play now - i would break everyones ears if i play with the sound), t

whats the point in bringing a 5kw system to use like 1kw?
a lot of work - some money (van rent) to have big speakers with almost no power from the amps

sometimes its really sad here...too much bar/pubs/club owners complaining about too much bass with a 600w rms bass cabinet...
some italian people here will know that the "roots yard" in italian sunsplash this year had a good 8kw sound but the bosses of the yard kept it at a volume similar to an home stereo...it was so sad it was even funny...

so big place & not too much problems with neighborood = good sized sound, but its not everytime like that

Because then people would hear tunes the way they are 'meant' to be played - upon a big bass reggae sound & would become addicts of your sound, building fans & mass hype leading to better gigs and more money down the road..?

freedubtribe soundsystem wrote:a lot of work - some money (van rent) to have big speakers with almost no power from the amps

Only you can decide but you might impress more people & build a following?

Maybe there is a way to trim down what you bring to a smaller venue in terms of speakerage & volume knob movements, but still be able to blow away the club system yet not blow away people's eardrums?

i know, good points...right now i have two sounds at home, 1 is big but few chances to use it, 1 is smaller but nice sounding and it blows away most club systems

its really a struggle here cause there's no sound culture (and im talking about all kind of music - i went to electronic music party yesterday and the sound was awful, let alone rock or punk gigs where servicemen dont care about sound just money and people isnt interested too much in sound quality), and everything has to be built from the foundations, but i'm not in a hurry and i'm happy about what i'm trying to do. somewhere else it would be easier tough....

freedubtribe soundsystem wrote:i know, good points...right now i have two sounds at home, 1 is big but few chances to use it, 1 is smaller but nice sounding and it blows away most club systems

its really a struggle here cause there's no sound culture (and im talking about all kind of music - i went to electronic music party yesterday and the sound was awful, let alone rock or punk gigs where servicemen dont care about sound just money and people isnt interested too much in sound quality), and everything has to be built from the foundations, but i'm not in a hurry and i'm happy about what i'm trying to do. somewhere else it would be easier tough....

no sound culture in italy???

i have a recording somewhere iration steppas came to italy and played on one of the local soundsystems cant remember the name of the sound tho